The Fannings are Not Collaborating with Rodarte

No question about it, the Fannings love them some Rodarte. The fashionable sisters have long been fans of the Mulleavy sisters' creations, and at last week's Met Gala, both Dakota and Elle wore Rodarte.
Still, when the Daily Mail reported yesterday that Elle, 15, and Dakota, 19, were designing for Rodarte we raised a collective eyebrow.

Still, when the Daily Mailreported yesterday that Elle, 15, and Dakota, 19, were designing for Rodarte we raised a collective eyebrow. According to the Mail's mole, "The girls have been very hands-on." But according to a rep for Rodarte, there's no collaboration in the works.

Rodarte has just released the look book for their second collection for Opening Ceremony on Facebook and, as always, the Mulleavys don't disappoint. The sisters were inspired by Scandinavia for this collection, which hits stores and online in October. Silhouettes are long and tiered and cinched at the waist, prints are Nordic-themed, and knits are Fair Isle. Cardigans are done in mohair and metallic lurex and skirts are made of strips of lambskin. The whole collection kinda screams Elle Fanning, in a good way.

Rodarte's Mulleavy sisters are nothing if not dreamers--and for their spring 2012 collection they got lost in Van Gogh's dream world. Dresses with the post-Impressionist painter's sunflowers and swirly stars from his starry nights floated down the runway.
The stars were watching the runway as well: Elle and Dakota Fanning, Beyonce and Solange Knowles, and Taylor Swift were there in the front row. Not too shabby. To counter the mainstream stars and the heaps of praise and attention Rodarte has received, the sisters’ chose a reference point that speaks to the heart of the creative person. Van Gogh—a mentally unbalanced genius who died alone, impoverished, unrecognized in his time—is a model for struggling artist, the outsider, he whose passion overcomes every other notion of his being, including his own physical body (he cut off his own ear; he shot himself in the chest).
The sisters Mulleavy will have people talking with this collection. And if the response is more shock than awe, the intelligence and originality in this effort should subdue any such moaning.